Information systems diversity : Metaphor, meaning and myth

Diversity pervades our lives being both a salient feature of the world around us and an unavoidable characteristic of the human endeavor. In the IS discipline there have been great discussions over the many issues stemming from diversity in our research. However, much of the discussion has overlooked the more fundamental issue of research diversity itself. This paper contributes to current understandings of research diversity by making research diversity the prime focus. Theoretically, it looks at diversity through the alternative lens of concepts. Empirically, it explores the conceptual diversity of the organization – a key disciplinary concept. Grounded in Lakoff and Johnson’s (1980) work with metaphors, the results show that the discipline’s research may not be as diverse as initially thought. Of the three primary views of the organization; machine, organism and culture – the study finds a distinct bias toward conceptualizing the organization as a machine.